Irishman praised for saving little boy’s life

AN Irishman who saved a toddler from drowning in a New Zealand pool was being hailed as a national hero yesterday.

Lifeguard Keith Hennessy, 31, from Cork, pulled three-year-old Ali Ben Brahim’s lifeless body from a public pool in Wellington last week.

The boy, who had been using an inflatable ring, was found face down in the city’s 1.2-metre-deep Regional Aquatic Centre after his mother left him briefly to go to the toilet.